U.S. State Medical Boards’ Antiracism Education Requirements for Physicians
Authors: Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, Autumn Nobles, Muzzammil Muhammad, Marcella Nunez-Smith, Michael Barnett
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2023)

Letters21 November 2023U.S. State Medical Boards’ Antiracism Education Requirements for PhysiciansMax Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, MD, MS, Autumn Nobles, MD, Muzzammil Muhammad, MD, MS, Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS, Michael Barnett, MD, MPHMax Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, MD, MSDivision of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsSearch for more papers by this author, Autumn Nobles, MDDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsSearch for more papers by this author, Muzzammil Muhammad, MD, MSDepartment of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsSearch for more papers by this author, Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHSEquity Research and Innovation Center, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, and Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, ConnecticutSearch for more papers by this author, Michael Barnett, MD, MPHDivision of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MassachusettsSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M23-1476 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Background: In 2021, after nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, the American Medical Association released a plan to embed racial justice and health equity in physicians’ training. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines health equity as the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health. The rationale for educating physicians about racial justice is that they play a key role in perpetrating racial health disparities through various mechanisms, including biased clinical decision making and verbal and nonverbal communication (1). Although existing research describes the state of health equity and ...References1. Dehon E, Weiss N, Jones J, et al. A systematic review of the impact of physician implicit racial bias on clinical decision making. Acad Emerg Med. 2017;24:895-904. [PMID: 28472533] doi:10.1111/acem.13214 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Dupras D, Wieland M, Halvorsen A, et al. Assessment of training in health disparities in US internal medicine residency programs. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e2012757. [PMID: 32777061] doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.12757 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Cooper LA, Saha S, Van Ryn M. Mandated implicit bias training for health professionals—a step toward equity in health care. JAMA Health Forum. 2022;3:e223250. [PMID: 36218984] doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.3250 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Tiako MJN, Forman HP, Nuñez-Smith M. Racial health disparities, COVID-19, and a way forward for US health systems. J Hosp Med. 2021;16:50-52. [PMID: 33357329] doi:10.12788/jhm.3545 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Metzl JM, Hansen H. 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[PMID: 24507917] doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.06.032 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, MD, MS; Autumn Nobles, MD; Muzzammil Muhammad, MD, MS; Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS; Michael Barnett, MD, MPHAffiliations: Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsDepartment of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsEquity Research and Innovation Center, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, and Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, ConnecticutDivision of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MassachusettsSee also: Editorial comment (page 1676).Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-1476.Reproducible Research Statement: Study protocol: The Methods section describes the protocol succinctly, including the data sources and terms the authors searched for in each document. The table legend includes the link to each state’s requirements. Statistical code and data set: Not available.Corresponding Author: Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, MD, MS, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail, mnguemenitiako@bwh.harvard.edu.This article was published at Annals.org on 21 November 2023. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoBuilding the Beloved (Health) Community: Antiracism, Diversity, and Primary Care Tonya Fancher , Olivia Campa Metrics Cited byBuilding the Beloved (Health) Community: Antiracism, Diversity, and Primary CareTonya Fancher, MD, MPH, Olivia Campa, MD Current Issue December 2023Volume 176, Issue 12 Page: 1680-1682 Keywords Health equity Medical education Racial and ethnic issues Racism ePublished: 21 November 2023 Issue Published: December 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...